[TN-Bird] Re: ESA revision
- From: <cpnichol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "Birder1" <birder1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, <tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 30 Sep 2005 13:59:37 -0400
The vote happened yesterday, and only 1.5 hours of debate were allowed.
Pombo's HR 3824 passed by 229 - 193. Tennessee Representatives voted as
follows:
Yes:
Wamp
Duncan
Blackburn
Ford
Tanner
Jenkins
Davis
No:
Gordon
Cooper
I expected the majority of TN Representatives to vote for HR 3824, but one of
the "Yes" votes really surprised me.
An amendment introduced by George Miller that would have been better for
endangered species was introduced before the final vote; this amendment was
defeated 206-216.
Chuck Nicholson
Norris, TN
>
> From: "Birder1" <birder1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Date: 2005/09/30 Fri AM 07:38:17 EDT
> To: <cpnichol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: RE: [TN-Bird] Re: ESA revision
>
> Chuck-what is the "deadline"? lvz
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: tn-bird-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:tn-bird-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On
> Behalf Of cpnichol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Sent: Wednesday, September 28, 2005 8:56 PM
> To: tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [TN-Bird] Re: ESA revision
>
> WARNING: The following message contains information and opinions that some
> readers may interpret as being too political for this listserve. If you are
> one of these readers, then skip the rest of the message.
>
> The House Resources Committee passed H.R. 3824 - the Threatened and
> Endangered
> Species Recovery Act last week and it is to be introduced into the full
> house any day now.
>
> For the complete text of the bill, see
> http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c109:2:./temp/~c109hpd14w::
>
> For the Resource Committee's analysis of the bill, see
> http://resourcescommittee.house.gov/. The right side of the page has links
> to HR 3824 material.
>
> For some contrasting viewpoints, see:
> http://action.nwf.org/campaign/wildlifeextinctionbill20050923?
> http://www.saveesa.org/
> http://www.stopextinction.org
>
> Following is the text of a sample letter for you to personalize and send to
> your representative. The TOS has already taken a strong stand against this
> bill. If it very important that you, as individuals, also let your
> representative know how you feel about this bill.
>
> Chuck Nicholson
> Norris, TN
>
> Sample Letter:
>
> Dear <insert name of your representative>
>
> As one of your constituents, I strongly urge you to oppose the Threatened
> and Endangered Species Recovery Act of 2005 (H.R. 3824). While I agree with
> the House Resources Committee goal of improving the Endangered Species Act,
> I believe that H.R. 3824 takes the wrong approach to doing this and will,
> in fact, greatly reduce the conservation and recovery of endangered and
> species.
>
> Because of the Endangered Species Act, populations of numerous animals and
> plants in Tennessee are presently much healthier than they were decades ago.
> The present status of the bald eagle, peregrine falcon, snail darter,
> mountain skullcap, and Eggert's sunflower in Tennessee are proof that the
> Endangered Species Act works.
>
> Much of the effectiveness of the Endangered Species Act will be reversed by
> H.R. 3824. Following are some of the numerous harmful aspects of H.R. 3824.
>
> . Increases Political Manipulation of Scientific Decisions - The ESA
> presently requires that decisions be made "solely on the basis of the best
> scientific and commercial data available." H.R. 3824 significantly weakens
> this standard by allowing the Secretary of Interior, rather than scientists,
> to determine what constitutes the best science. It disallows the use of
> commercial data (such as harvest and trade data, which are major sources of
> information on commercially exploited species), and discourages the use of
> modeling results. Because of the low numbers of many endangered and
> threatened species, modeling results are frequently the best available
> scientific data.
>
> . Weakens Protection of Threatened Species - Current ESA regulations
> give species listed as threatened most of the same protections as species
> listed as endangered. H.R. 3824 voids these regulations and instead
> requires that individual regulations be issued for every for threatened
> species.
>
> . Eliminates Critical Habitat Protections - Critical habitat is a very
> important measure for protecting areas where endangered and threatened
> species occur. H.R. 3824 eliminates critical habitat and replaces it with
> "special value habitat" offering no legal protection to the species.
>
> . Weakens Potential for Rangewide Recovery of Listed Species - H.R.
> 3824 allows individual states to have the portion of a species' population
> found in that state delisted, regardless of the rangewide status of the
> species. This measure would preclude the full recovery of the species to
> non-endangered status.
>
> . Weakens Responsibilities of Federal Agencies - Section 7 of the ESA
> states that it is the responsibility of federal agencies to conserve
> endangered and threatened species, and establishes a consultation process
> for the US Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service
> to review the effects of agency actions on listed species. This
> consultation process is generally efficient and timely, and has led to
> improvements in the status of many listed species while rarely causing major
> changes in the agencies' actions. H.R. 3824 greatly weakens this process
> and allows agency actions harming endangered species to proceed with minimal
> to no consultation.
>
> . Greatly Increases Costs to Taxpayers - One of the major impediments
> to the recovery of endangered and threatened species has been the
> underfunding of ESA implementation efforts by the US Fish and Wildlife
> Service and National Marine Fisheries Service. This underfunding has
> persisted for years and is not unique to any recent administration or either
> political party. H.R. 3824 increases the costs of ESA implementation by
> creating many new bureaucratic hurdles. It also includes a provision
> requiring taxpayers to reimburse private landowners for not harming
> endangered and threatened species. The amount of these payments is to be
> based on the potential maximum future profits landowners might reap from
> their land, rather than current land values. While I support measures to
> encourage the cooperative conservation of endangered and threatened species
> by private landowners (through tax incentives and continuation and expansion
> of existing programs), the reimbursement provision
> in H.R. 3824 are outrageous.
>
> These are but a few of the numerous aspects of H.R. 3824 that will harm the
> conservation and recovery of endangered and threatened species. I trongly
> urge you to vote no on this bill.
>
> Sincerely,
>
>
>
> <your name>
> <your address>
>
>
>
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